THE STATE OF MADRAS REPRESENTED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF MADRAS AND ORS. Vs. THE BOMBAY BURMAH TRADING CORPORATION LTD. REPRESENTED BY ITS GROUP MANAGER, DR. K.T. MATHEW

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appeal comes from an order of Ramaprasada Rao, J., allowing a petition to quash a demand made by the Collector of Coimbatore on 2nd April, 1970 on the respondent to pay seigniorage fees for transport of grevillea trees from the Kottur Village on the Anamalais, Coimbatore District. An extent of 5851 acres of land in Block Nos. 30, 31, 43 and 45 in that village was assigned to the respondent, the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, by an order of Government dated 10th May, 1929 for cultivation of, plantation products. The assignment was subject to certain conditions specified. One of the conditions was that the land shall be used only for the cultivation of coffee, tea, cocoa, cinchona, cardamoms pepper, rubber or any other product that the Government may by special orders recognise as a plantation product, or for the erection of any buildings or constructing any roads thereon, which may be necessary for effecting and supervising such cultivation and preparing the produce for markets. It was also required by another condition that, where the forest was cleared, the assignee should plant plantation crops within, such reasonable time as might be fixed by the Collector of Coimbatore in each case. The Government reserved to themselves their right to a share in mines and quarries adjacent to the land and so also the right of ingress or egress for the purpose of working the mines. We have then a condition that the grantee shall not alienate the land without the sanction of the Government to a person other than a British subject or the subject of an Indian State. Then comes the following condition:

(2.) GREVILLEA trees were planted by the assignee for the purpose, as it is stated, of giving shade to the tea plantation. The assignee sought the permission of the Collector to cut and remove 20,000 grevillea trees measuring 10,00,000 cubic feet out of the trees so planted in the developed area. The seigniorage fees demanded by the Collector as a condition for the permission asked for amounted to Rs. 80,000. The intercession of the Board of Revenue was solicited by the assignee. It is said: